Field of the Invention
In a working environment, a need is present for searching, detecting and removing foreign objects that would otherwise be commingled with laundry articles. In one such working environment, large numbers of laundry articles are subjected to a picking and sorting operation, wherein the laundry articles are deposited onto a moving belt conveyor, while several workers manually pick the laundry articles off the conveyor and quickly sort them. The workers quickly sort them by flinging them into respective sorting bins that receive different kinds of laundry articles. The workers quickly pick and fling the laundry articles in as little time as possible. A foreign object commingled with the laundry articles could injure a worker who comes into contact with the foreign object while the worker manually picks and sorts the laundry articles. In another working environment wherein laundry articles are being laundered or cleaned, a foreign object commingled with the laundry articles could damage laundry equipment during a laundering or cleaning operation, and could damage the laundry articles themselves. In another working environment wherein laundry articles may be conveyed on a conveyor for disposal as infectious waste, valuable surgical instruments need to be detected and removed to avoid their costly disposal.
Description of the Prior Art
A problem in the health care industry is to assure the safety of workers whose job it is, to pick and sort laundry articles. However, foreign objects may be overlooked when commingled with the laundry articles. Foreign objects in the form of surgical instruments include sharp and potentially injurious objects, including but not limited to scalpels, forceps, scissors, saws and syringes, to name a few. As a consequence, a need is present for conducting searches of laundry articles to detect and remove foreign objects. A process of hand searching for foreign objects would be time consuming, and would expose workers to potential injury from contact with foreign objects while searching. In addition, valuable surgical instruments can be lost. A need is present for detection and retrieval of valuable surgical instruments to avoid their loss.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,001,425 discloses a patented metal detector to cover a waste disposal receptacle for use in a hospital environment to detect the inadvertent disposal of metal articles in such a receptacle. Metal objects entering the disposal receptacle cause triggering of a detector alarm system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,450 describes a patented metal detector to detect the inadvertent disposal of metal objects such as surgical instruments into a waste disposal receptacle. Specifically, the device operates with a magnetic field. A mechanism calibrates a detection coil by comparing the output voltage thereof caused by a change in the surrounding electromagnetic field to a reference voltage to establish a threshold voltage. When the threshold voltage is exceeded by detection of a surgical instrument, multiple pulse emitting members are activated to emit output pulses directed toward multiple pulse detection members. A surgical instrument entering into the disposal receptacle will interrupt and block a pulse, which triggers an alarm.
However, the patented metal detectors do not remove detected metal objects from a waste disposal receptacle. Further, instead of a metal object being discarded in a waste disposal receptacle, the metal object may be overlooked when commingled with a laundry article, and may unintentionally accompany the laundry article in various working environments: picking and sorting, washing, cleaning, or disposal of the laundry articles as infectious waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,683,779 describes a metal detector useful in the hospitality industry for detecting flatware left on food trays, wherein the flatware is commingled with food scraps on the food trays. However, the detector does not remove flatware from the trays.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,662,314 discloses an apparatus and a method for removing foreign material and undesirable articles from a product stream. A mechanical diverter is responsive to an inspection station to launch or redirect undesirable articles in an alternate path. An air ejector is responsive to the inspection station to dislodge foreign material from the product stream. An air diverter in one form of the patented invention is responsive to the inspection station to dislodge foreign material from the product stream.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,105 describes a metal detector for detecting metal objects in materials passing through the apparatus by means of a magnetic field induced by eddy currents. And in an area located between a transmitter coil system and a receiver coil system of the metal detector, there is installed at least one electrically insulated but electro-conductive and/or magnetic element in order to change the sensitivity distribution of the metal detector.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,423,422 describes a determination device (detector) producing sample output signals corresponding to a plurality of metallic samples differing in magnitude passing an alternating field, and a memory unit storing data of such sample signals A setting device causes an indicator to display the magnitude of metal detectable by the detector compared on the basis of those data on the samples. And a metal displaying device displays the magnitude of that metal content on the indicator. The user can intuitively become informed of the detectable metal and the magnitude of the metal.